Salvdore Cimino

Mr. Salvadore “Paul” Cimino, Jr., 84, of Mandeville, LA, passed away on June 9, 2016 in Covington, LA after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Salvadore (Salvatore) or “Paul” as most of his friends and the community knew him was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Benedetta Petrolia Cimino of Laplace, Louisiana and Salvadore Cimino of Cefalu, Sicily, Italy on November 5, 1931.  He graduated Warren Easton High School in New Orleans and was a veteran of the Korean War, during which he served as a Navy Yeoman and assistant to a Vice Admiral while stationed in Norfolk, VA.  Eventually he received his degree in medical management from Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Paul was a highly accomplished renaissance man. His long and diverse career involved many professions; he was an award winning cosmetologist in New Orleans, Atlanta, and New York, NY. He was a medical administrator for Charter Medical and Lowance Clinic in Atlanta, Georgia and served as president of the Medical Group Management Association of Georgia in 1973. He was a professional opera singer who performed with the New Orleans Opera Company, the New York Metropolitan Opera, as well as Opera Atlanta. He owned restaurants and night clubs in Atlanta and Ft. Lauderdale. He was an avid writer for many newspapers and magazines throughout the south, a professional actor who appeared in such movies as Panic in the Streets and A Streetcar Named Desire. Mr. Cimino also enjoyed participating in community theater in New Orleans and Atlanta; among his favorite roles were King Author in Camelot and Nicky Arnstein in Funny Girl.

As a journalist, Paul interviewed and wrote about many subjects and celebrities, included Dion Warwick, Robert Goulet and Sidney Poitier, to mention a few.  He was a hair and make-up artist for such stars as Shirley Jones, Ann Blyth, Edie Adams, Dena Dietrich, and models such as Christie Brinkley. In addition to English, he spoke 3 other languages;  including Spanish, French, and Italian, and taught Italian and Italian Culture at the University of New Orleans and Delgado University in New Orleans as well as through the St. Tammany Parish Library. He taught culinary arts at his own school, The Italian Gourmet Society and at Simply Gourmet, both in Covington.

He was a 4th degree Knight of Columbus, a member of the Order of Sons of Italy in America and several carnival organizations.  He served on the Clairol Presidential Council, the board of Habitat for Humanity St. Tammany West, was the first recipient of the First Annual Salvatore Paul Cimino Award, named in his honor, given for exemplary volunteer service to St. Tammany Parish Library, and he served as a volunteer the hospital and Vice President of Lakeview Regional Medical Center Volunteer Auxiliary Board.

Mr. Cimino is survived by his former wife Maria Randazzo Cimino and their children, son, Anthony “Tony” Cimino and  Mignonne L. Cimino and their children; David Antony Cimino and his wife Ashley, Kathleen Elizabeth Cannino and her husband Josiah, Ryan Paul Cimino, and Jonathan Patrick-Joseph Cimino; his son, Andrea “Andy” Cimino and his wife Leesa Kieffer Cimino and their children, Jessica Lynn Cimino Goodman and her husband Daniel, and Daniel Michael Cimino; his daughter, Maria Paula Cimino Jones and her husband Paul; and his great grandchildren, David Maxwell Cimino, Noah Michael Cannino, and Sofia Kate Marie Cannino. He is also survived by his son-in-law Kenneth R. Fielder.

Friends and Family are invited to participate at a visitation at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church which will begin at 1:00 pm, June 17th, followed by a mass at 2:00 pm. Graveside services for friends and family will be held at St. Joseph Abby Cemetery in Covington, immediately following mass.

In lieu of flowers the family requests donations made in Mr. Cimino’s name to: Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, 1203 South Tyler Street, Covington, LA 70433

The family of Mr. Cimino wishes to extend our sincere thanks to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Dr. Jack E. Saux III, Dr. Richard E. Casey, Dr. Michael Hill, Dr. Michel LeBrun, his friend and Nurse Therese Rochelle, St. Tammany Hospice, and all of his spiritual counselors and the churches that assisted him along his journey and of course, his many, many beloved friends.

Our dad and grandfather will be sorely missed by his family and the community he loved.